WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of blacks joining the military has plunged by more than one-third since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began, as other job prospects soar and relatives of potential recruits increasingly discourage them from signing up.

According to data obtained by The Associated Press, the decline covers all four military services for active duty recruits, and the drop is even more dramatic when National Guard and Reserve recruiting is included.

The findings reflect the growing unpopularity of the wars, particularly among family members and other adults who exert influence over high school and college students considering the military as a place to serve their country, further their education or build a career.

What good is free tuition if you're severely injured or worse, and for what? Ironically, this war that's supposed to scare the rest of the world into submission is doing more damage to the military than anything.

Let the war monger idiot Republics kids sign up and die for this stupid war on terror. There is no way to make that sound good, because they are all human beings. I am just tired of good people who believe in this country getting killed. Maybe Utah will pick up the slack, they have the highest approval for Bush and the fewest people dying in this war on terror. Like I said I am tired of good people that believe in this country getting killed. Let those war mongering people who love this war send their kids. It is not such a lovely war anymore when they do.

a HUGE TV, radio, and magazine campaign, targetting poor and black populations, this is great news. It means that word on the street is out, and that word is not good. The Army of One has been morphed into You da Man, which morphed into something else. But the basic message was the same. This is a manly thing to do, this is good for you, it helps ma out, and boy is it fun to jump out of choppers!

is because of the Freeper spin that the soldiers volunteered and knew what they were getting into, and that's all the more reason not to support them. Any potential recruit can hear those words and see that if people won't support them then they won't join.

they volunteered to donate their time, effort and obedience and to follow orders.

They did not volunteer to suffer injuries because of lack of adequate personal or vehicular armor, bad planning, understaffing, Rummie's whims and Cheney's lies. They did not volunteer to suffer untreated mental and psychiatric conditions that go untreated for life. They did not volunteer to paint huge concentric circles on their backs They did not volunteer to go into an occupation in a civil war we created wearing body armor that profits a friend of the admin, when better technology remains untested.

Latinos were slightly overrepresented in the military--we're talking something like 2-3%. Whites and Asians were underrepresented by the same amount.

Blacks made up just a smidgeon more than you'd expect by percentage of population.

Note that these numbers were against the overall population. Black and Latino children made up a large percentage of those 18 in 2004 than the overall figures for their race/ethnicity as percentage of the population would lead you to expect. White kids made up a smaller portion of the overall 'kid pool' than you'd expect.

Moreover, the supply network was disproportionately black and Latino. This means that as a percentage of the armed forces, they're disproportionately lacking on the front lines. There the number of whites is at or exceeds overall population percentages, and the number of blacks is significantly lower. "Minorities as cannon fodder" seems to be based on misleading 35-year-old stats.

You read through the piece and there is NO context for any statistics whatsoever. The story in no way shape or form provides even a hint as to why 'black' is being singled out for reporting as far as declining recruitment. Not a single fucking reason.

One has to assume that recruitment is down across the board because of cites elsewhere -- or is it?

This is conscious racism done to LEAVE the impression that black people are not pulling their fair share and lying low in the 'hood, get rich off of all that 'opportunity' being provided by liberal goubbermint.

Real newspapers tend to have policies against this 'race-baiting' horse shit. It's a fairly simple rule: unless you are showing precise evidence for singling out a racial group in a story, then you don't do it.

Now in ninety-one, he wanna tax meI remember, the son of a bitch used to axe meand hang me by a rope til my neck snappedNow the sneaky motherfucker wanna ban rapand put me under dirt or concreteBut God, can see through a white sheetCause you the devil in dragYou can burn your cross well I'll burn your flagTry to give me the H-I-Vso I can stop makin babies like meAnd you're givin dope to my people chumpJust wait til we get over that humpCause yo' ass is grass cause I'ma blastCan't bury rap, like you buried jazzCause we stopped bein whores, stop doin floorsSo bitch you can fight your own warsSo if you see a man in red white and bluegettin janked by the Lench Mob crewIt's a man who deserves to buckleI wanna kill Sam cause he ain't my motherfuckin Uncle!

17. I'm really glad to here this. The government considers them to be expendable.

(The same with poor people.) It's disgusting, and I'm happy to hear that the victims are not allowing themselves to be victimized any longer. (Not that there was any way that they could have seen it coming beforehand.)

19. So now they believe 'ADD' and other "liberal invented nonsense"...

Does Rush know about this????

(snip)At the same time, the military is opening the door to many recruits it has not welcomed in the past. That includes people who are a bit older; who score lower on aptitude tests; and who have medical conditions such as asthma or attention deficit disorders that can be controlled better now with medicine.(snip)

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